About two years ago when things were not really going his way, B Sai Praneeth once tried talking to coach Pullela Gopi Chand about the possibility of playing a few lower level tournaments to get some winning momentum under his belt before again focusing his attention on the Grand Prix and above.

The 24-year-old with almost every stroke in the book and a game that could mesmerise anyone watching was a tad frustrated due to the lack of consistency in his performance and injuries. It was also the time when many of his compatriots were beginning to win major titles and he was looking to find his way.

Gopi Chand instead asked him to go back to the drawing board and work hard on his fitness. It wasn't easy but the senior national title in 2015 and a few wins over top opponents, including former world number 1 Lee Chong Wei, were enough indicators that the 2010 World Junior Championship was making the right progress.

All those years of hard work bore fruit yesterday, when he rallied from a game down to beat compatriot K Srikanth 17-21 21-17 21-12 in just under an hour to win the Singapore Superseries title.

The triumph also made him only the second Indian men's singles player to win a Superseries level tournament after Srikanth.

For those who have followed both the players at the academy, Sai was the obvious favourite because of his style of play and the fact that he relishes opponents like Srikanth. But the 24-year-old struggled at the start with the drift and looked down and out when he conceded a 7-2 lead after losing the first game.

It was the quality of his net play that helped him dig himself out of trouble and then those wristy strokes that caught Srikanth off guard did the job in the decider.

"It was never going to be an easy match.But I struggled in the opening game and told myself to just concentrate on playing the point. It took time but once I got my rhythm, I began to play my game and was in control in the third," said the man who now leads Srikanth 5-1 in head-to-head encounters.

Once those strokes began to flow, Srikanth was always playing catch up by trying to play tighter and tighter at the net to negate the advantage of those supple wrists and ended up making too many errors for his own good and ultimately hit an overhead smash wide to hand the title to Sai.

A tough journey

But just like the final, the journey to the title was also not that straight forward for the world number 30.

Sai Praneeth reacts after winning the final. AFP

Sai, who was inducted in Gopichand Academy's first batch back in 2005, had the wow factor that would make fellow players, coaches and even opponents talk in awe from the age group level. The variety of strokes and court movement meant that he dominated the singles and doubles (with Pranaav Chopra) circuit in India and even bagged a junior world cup bronze and represented India in the 1st Youth Olympics. But what was strength became his biggest problem at the senior level as he struggled to cope with the drift and conditions in bigger halls and his fitness levels could not match international standards.

"For a stroke player like me, when things don't go right due to drift in the hall, it gets difficult. I wasn't mature enough then to deal with it. But now I have learnt to handle it by playing limited strokes."

"Also, it was frustrating to see others playing well while I was struggling in competitions and also getting injured regularly. It wasn't easy. It was important to train harder but also to play tournaments to maintain ranking," the Canada Open champion told Mirror from Singapore.

But Gopi Chand vetoed that plan without battling an eyelid. Even this year, Sai was asked to pull out of the European circuit in March to concentrate on training and fitness following a shoulder injury that kept him out of the Senior Nationals. Though he failed to reach the business end of the India Open and Malaysia Open after returning to the circuit, the fitness levels were definitely better and the things ultimately came together in Singapore where he ended up playing marathon matches - except the semi-final -from the first round.

Explaining the logic behind his stand, Gopi Chand told Mirror, "According to me it is ok to go play those tournaments for exposure and ranking when you are 18-19. But at this stage it is important to work hard on the fitness level and only play when you are at your best."

The former All England champion was, however, happy that Sai finally converted his potential into a title winning run.

"I am really happy to see Sai win his first Superseries title. He has had some good results in the past but to win a title everything has to come together. The fitness has to be there and also the maturity."

Time will tell how Sai builds on this success but for now India can rejoice a second men's player on the Superseries podium.

Two crowns for Gayatri Gopichand

Across the island in Jakarta, Indonesia, Gopi Chand's daughter Gayatri bagged an u-15 double crown in the Jaya Raya International Junior Grand Prix.

Gayatri got the better of top seed and her academy-mate Samiya Farooqui 21-1118-2121-16 before the two girls teamed up to hammer top-seeds Kelly Larissa and Shelandry Vyola of Indonesia 21-17 21-15 in the doubles.

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